More Than a Picture

“These places, and the experiences I had in them, were mine and mine alone. The senses of solitude, ownership, and place that I felt on these trips were creating a private world that, by definition, was impossible to share. Nevertheless, I tried. I took photographs and posted online albums of my trips; however, the images failed. They were unsuccessful because they were removed in time and location from what I went through to be in the place at that time. To a person sitting in an office or a living room, a picture of a mountain is just a picture. To me, it was the experience of taking the picture.” pg. 95-96

Re-reading books has become a habit of mine, so it shouldn’t be surprising to those who know this about me that this passage comes from a book that I first read about 2 years ago and am currently re-reading for the third time: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston. As I was sitting in my living room after a day at work reading this book that I’ve read multiple times, I realized how fitting it is to my life right now. I’ve already disclosed in past posts that I’m terrible at blogging, and just journaling in general, but I’m coming to realize that it’s not because I can’t write about “the every day”, it’s because in order to fully convey the significance of my experiences I would have to dedicate so much time to writing my blog that I would be missing out on things that are making my JV year so valuable. And even if I did spend all my time blogging in an attempt to have everyone reading my blog understand how instrumental this year has been, I still wouldn’t be able to paint and accurate picture of JVC Nashville. There is no way to put into words the uniqueness of each of my community members and how their quirks make stories and moments that much more memorable; or how great it is to come home to a group of women that not only is interested in how your day went but can relate to the challenges you face, or even how awesome it felt when we finally felt like we’re finding our place in this city.

I can’t even begin to put into words how working with men who are dealing with drug/alcohol addiction and homeless has challenged my way of thinking and has begun to change me. When I started at Room In The Inn I felt like was just “Brian’s replacement” since the majority of the guys in the program entered Odyssey when he was the JV and I was the new person taking over his responsibilities. While I have since formed my own identity with the guys in Phase III, it wasn’t until the end of October, when the new Phase I group entered Odyssey, that I felt I found my place. The 10 men who entered the program just over a month ago have only ever known me as being the JV, and getting to see them from the very beginning was something I missed out on before. I got to spend a month seeing them interact in Pre-Odyssey and witness friendships form before they even moved in and then see the excitement and nervousness on their faces when they moved in on October 29^th.  While it was a chaotic day for me, running around making sure things were going well, I’ll never forget how one of the men put one of his shirts on one of the few hangers we had (we hadn’t had the chance to run to the store to purchase more yet) and exclaimed to one of his new roommates “This is the first time I’ve been able to do this in 15 years” as he hung the shirt in his own closet. It was at this moment I realized how much of an impact my job is having on these individuals, and how much I take for granted. In no means has this past month been easy, but it’s little moments like that that remind me that the stresses are worth it and of why I chose to dedicate myself to a year of JVC. 

Long story short: I have fallen love with Nashville. To all of you sitting at your computers reading this post, the stories that I share are just glimpses into my life here and the pictures I post online are just pictures; but to me, these stories are becoming defining moments of my life and the pictures I’ve taken are reminders of the bonds I'm forming.